The following Class Notes were received recently in the UW Oshkosh Alumni Office:
’53 Leonard Rush (EHS) received the first Legacy Award from the Foundation for Madison’s Public Schools, and the newly remodeled Library Media Center at John Muir Elementary School was dedicated to him. He and his wife, Jean (Bock) Rush (EHS) ’53, are retired and living in Madison. 3-1-09
’68 Suzanne (Sargent) Gales (LS) researched for the book “Saw-Dust,” a book written by her grandfather, Leonard Sargent. “Saw-Dust” is the straightforward account of a pioneer family’s adventures traveling from Vermont to Northern Wisconsin at the turn of the 20th century. It is set primarily in Marathon and Forest counties, and the detailed accounts were verified through old census records, newspaper archives, photographs and interviews. Suzanne and her husband, Peter Gales (LS) ’68 , now live in Mountain Home, Ark. 3-1-09
’69 Thomas Baum (EHS) and ’74 (MST) is retiring after almost 40 years of teaching and administration at Lourdes High School in Oshkosh. He taught several different classes in the history/social sciences department and spent seven years as principal and eight as vice principal. 3-1-09
’72 Robert Stat (LS) has begun a career in teaching after years in retail, restaurant and service management. He is transitioning to become a Montessori teacher and lives in southern Florida. 3-1-09
’73 Mary (Chopin) Catterton (LS) founded Waters of Life Ministry for Women Inc. after a 30-year career as the owner of Ad Works Inc. 3-1-09
’77 Joy (Krause) Powers (LS) received her RN degree in May, 2007. She is employed as a medical/surgical nurse and recently made the Nursing Services Presentation, honoring 800 staff members for achieving a 100-percent satisfaction rating by patients during the final quarter of 2008. 3-1-09
’78 Stephen Wendt (LS) is a pediatric dentist in Cincinnati. He served for nine years in the Army Dental Corps. He and his wife Christine have three sons. 3-1-09
’81 Robert Egerstrand (LS) was in the opening of “All You Need is Love” at the Savannah Theatre. This was his 15th show in four years with the theatre. 3-1-09
’82 Robert Snyder (LS) is a full professor in the Department of Communication Technologies at UW-Platteville and has been doing media interviews on digital TV and e-waste. 3-1-09
’83 Michael Hert (EHS) and’85 (MSE) has been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He is assigned to the 308th Civil Affairs Brigade, United States Army Reserve, in Homewood, Ill. He began his military service as an active duty enlisted soldier in the United States Army Medical Corp during the Cold War. He has completed two deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Most recently, he was the Deputy Political Section Chief of the Baghdad Provincial Reconstruction Team. His awards include the Bronze Star Medal and the Combat Action Badge. He is employed at Aurora Health Care and is married to Julie Hert. 3-1-09
’84 Linda Hidde (EHS) worked as director of a child care center for the first 16 years of her career. With her children now in high school and college, she works as an administrative assistant at St. John Faith Development Office. She and her husband, Rick, have been married for 25 years and reside in Appleton. 3-1-09
’85 Joy Smith (LS) will feature one of her stories, “Seedlings,” in “Magistria: The Realm of the Sorcerer,” a shared-world anthology available on Amazon.com. The anthology follows plant mages who fight with magic and their sentient plant companions. 3-1-09
’86 Jon Griffith (MPA) is retired and now pursuing woodworking, listening to jazz and classical music, and enjoying his four grandchildren. 3-1-09
’88 Kevin Ruder (LS) is the new police chief in Stevens Point. He has been working for the Stevens Point Police Department since September 1988. 3-1-09
’90 Glen Calnin (B) is the vice president of commercial lending for the Appleton Community Bank and Trust office. 3-1-09
’90 Julie Thompson (MPA) is retiring as Marshfield Clinic’s Northern Division Administrator. She and her husband, Scott, will divide their time between their home in Wisconsin and their home in Colorado. 3-1-09
’91 Janie Rhody (N) is a family nurse practitioner at Luther Midelfort’s Express Care in Eau Claire. 3-1-09
’92 Michele De Souza (LS) worked for 13 years as a Music Therapist at Waukesha Memorial Hospital in mental health. She now works on an acute unit with adults for the Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division and is also on staff at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music as a music therapist. She is a Master Gardener volunteer with a focus on moon gardens, fragrant plants and herbs. She also has a 10-year-old son. 3-1-09
’95 Jeffrey Jacobs (LS) has been promoted to vice president of Commercial Lines at Wilson Mutual Insurance Company. He began his career there in 1995 and served most recently as the assistant vice president of commercial lines. 3-1-09
’95 Debra Johnson (B) is the first recipient of the Waupaca Area Chamber of Commerce’s Service Award. She is a past president of the chamber, a past ambassador and a former member of the board of directors. Since 1998, she has served as chairwoman of the chamber’s Tourism Committee. 3-1-09
’96 Donald Ford (LS) was a featured artist in the January Gallery Walk in Oshkosh. He uses a similar method for his paintings as the ancient Greeks, called encaustic, adorning canvas with beeswax and oil colors. 3-1-09
’98 Michael Waters (B) is executive vice president of the Business Bank in Appleton. 3-1-09
’99 Shawn-Anne (Jett) Pierner (EHS) and ’99 Scott Pierner (EHS) married in the summer of 2000 and have three children. They continue to earn credits and certifications toward their teaching careers.
’00 Lisa (Hunter) Glodowski (B) is a consultant and unit leader with PartyLite Gifts, a direct sales company specializing in quality candles and accessories. She has been with the company since 2003. She is the mother of three boys. 3-1-09
’01 Mark Vaccaro (B) developed one of the Fox Valley’s premier dining destinations, Fusions by Mark, a Mediterranean Bistro in Fond du Lac. He is going into his fifth year in business. 3-1-09
’02 Casey Kopitzke (LS) is the manager of the Boise Hawks, a Class A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs in the Northwest League. 3-1-09
’02 Matthew Schreiber (LS) is a senior planner at the North Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission. 3-1-09
’03 Matthew Dodge (LS) completed his doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is working as a process development chemist for a pharmaceutical company in Madison. 3-1-09
’03 Eric Marschke (B) is manager at AccuVal Associates Inc., a global valuation, advisory and asset management firm in Mequon, Wis. He specializes in asset valuations and provides guidance to some of the largest corporations and financial institutions in the world. 3-1-09
’04 Janelle (Pedersen) Cary (MSE) is a disabilities specialist at High Point University in the Piedmont Triad region, N.C. She meets with students to identify how they learn best and works in conjunction with faculty to develop tools to encourage and promote student academic success. 3-1-09
’04 Nathan Kleczewski (LS) completed a Ph.D. in plant pathology at Ohio State University in December 2008 and started a post-doctoral research position at Indiana University focusing on plant microbe interactions and enhancing biofuel production in addition to carbon enrichment impacts on tree exudates and subsequent effects on soil processes. 3-1-09
’04 Allan Stockinger (LS) has accepted a tenure track instructional position with the science department at Cloud County Community College, teaching introductory chemistry and general chemistry full year sequence as well as organic chemistry laboratories.3-1-09
’05 Eric Nies (B) is the business development manager at NSC Inc. in Brillion, Wis., a family-owned-and-operated business that does information technology consulting and software development primarily for manufacturing and government use. He helped develop one of the company’s newest software programs, Supplier Portal. 3-1-09
’06 Julann (Julie) Mackin (MSE) is a special education teacher at Franklin Middle School. She spent the majority of her professional life as a nuclear medicine technologist, until returning to school to teach special education after having four children, one who is special needs, and realizing she wanted to do something with kids to make a difference. Her husband nominated her as an Everyday Hero in the Green Bay Press-Gazette, and she was selected in December 2008. 3-1-09
’07 Juliet Koeppl (B) has been promoted to the rank of sergeant in the U.S. Army. She is assigned to the 3rd Batallion, 339th Regional Training Center in Fort McCoy, Sparta. 3-1-09
’07 Matthew Michels (EHS) is the district executive of the Voyageur District for the Boy Scouts of America, covering Brown, Door and Kewaunee counties. 3-1-09
’08 Alyssa Gruett (EHS) of Crandon is a Peace Corps volunteer in the Federated States of Micronesia. For the next two years, she will be teaching seventh and eighth graders English as a second language and working on community projects on Fedarai, an outer island of Yap in the Ulithi atoll. 3-1-09
’08 William Marklein (LS) is a marketing specialist for ClearVision Strategic Marketing, a full-service marketing firm in Hartland, Wisc. 3-1-09
’08 Amanda (Mandi) McConnell (MBA) is a board member of the Boys and Girls Club of the Tri-County Area. 3-1-09
’08 Sarah Shute (LS) is working in Flagstaff, Ariz., as an athletic trainer at Northern Arizona University with the women’s soccer team.
’09 Andrew Fenske (EHS) and ’05 Sarah Otto (LS) were engaged in front of 1,600 people at a roller derby she was part of at Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum in Madison. It was Sarah’s first home game since breaking her leg in the finals in April, 2007. Pictures are available at www.madrollindollsphotos.com at “Mrd’s first proposal.” 3-1-09
ABBREVIATION KEY
COLLEGES
• B — Business
• EHS — Education and Human Services
• LS — Letters and Science
• N — Nursing
• AD — Associate Degree
GRADUATE DEGREES
• MA — Master of Arts
• MBA-Master of Business Administration
• MS — Master of Science
• MSE — Master of Science in Education
• MSN — Master of Science in Nursing
• MPA — Master of Public Administration
• MST — Master of Science in Teaching
To access stories that appeared in previous issues of Alumni eNews prior to April 8, visit www.uwosh.edu/alumni/enews/public_html.
Send items for future Class Notes at www.uwosh.edu/alumni/contact/information-update.php.